A review by anastasia_raf
The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

"Trust looks like a girl who wants to live so badly she forgot she's dead." 
Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until everything changed. The two friends were not only separated by not only two different worlds- a witch bound by duty and a vampire bound by " call It what you will, fate, destiny... - A horse." ( See what I did there tangled fans?) but by actual life and death. Can the two build a bridge to connect these two worlds? Or shall I say, can they see the light in a society that uses hatred as a fog? Scary and malicious until you cross and get to the other side. 
If you find all these themes interesting then my I guess is this book is for you, and I recommend you pick it up. But I'm not here to discuss only ideas, I'm here to discuss the execution of said ideas as well. Following is my personal opinion, what I want and look for in a book and in no way shape or form Is my intention to discourage you from reading this book. This audiobook  was provided to me by Netgalley and  Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review! Many thanks to the publishers. 
It was just trying to do too much. It was Vampire diaries mixed with first kill and twilight, with some Rapunzel themes involved. In my opinion, it had nothing going for it but vibes. 
Sometimes one of the protagonists would have an epiphany about their beliefs and opinions starting to actually analyze them and question them, then next thing you know they're back like this whole act of thinking belonged to someone else entirely!  
 The characters felt  two- dimensional. All we ever got about Kaye's past was that her mother was dead...And in a weird sense I felt like she was grieving her in everyone else's eyes other than her own? What I mean by this Is that death seemed like an excuse to everyone's actions but without necessarily having dealt with such grief or actually stop and feel it. Was she actually grieving her mother? because that's what it kept saying and yet not showing.  
 The end was unsatisfactory to say the least.
 Ava was a mix of Bella with some nuances of Rapunzel and some sprinkles of a cliche ya protagonist. I just wish it would've done more. Especially from a such overused "genre" like vampires and witches. It relied too much on it being an inspiration of famous tales, series and stories that it forgot to bring it's own. Everything was so underdeveloped. Predictable. And calluna did never feel like a person that really existed. I guess in that sense it succeed in her being a memory but not actually empathizing with her or caring for Kaye's loss. 
The only bonus for me was the queerness and the lack of the said word. Sexuality just existed and it didn't have to be analyzed or categorized.
The pace was satisfactory. The audiobook's narration was very pleasant. 
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